The moonlight stretched silver ribbons across the courtyard of the obsidian castle, where Kaito's days had shifted from ceaseless battles into something quieter, yet no less dangerous—training under Victor. The dread mage moved with an elegance that belied his age, shadows curling around his fingertips like serpents obeying a master's command.
Kaito stood opposite him, drenched in sweat, his breath ragged. The black flame in his chest pulsed with volatile rhythm, begging to be unleashed.
"Control is not suppression," Victor's voice was steady, echoing in the hollow air. "It is harmony. The darkness you wield is alive. If you treat it as a beast to cage, it will devour you."
Kaito gritted his teeth, thrusting his palm forward. Shadows erupted violently, splitting the stone floor with raw force. Victor sidestepped effortlessly, cutting through the surge with a blade woven from night itself.
"Again."
The clash repeated until Kaito's vision blurred. It wasn't Victor's superiority that humbled him—though the man could match him blow for blow—it was the dawning realization that Victor's presence wasn't coincidence.
The familiar chime of the system rang faintly in Kaito's head:
Mentor Assigned: Victor. Role – Regulator, Instructor, Counterbalance.
A cold chill ran through him. The system hadn't just given him strength—it had placed a leash around him, one bound in shadows.
Later, beneath a quieter sky, Kaito found Aria sitting on the stone balcony, her gaze lost among the stars. For the first time since she had appeared, her expression was unguarded—lonely, but glowing faintly with something fragile.
"You're reckless," she said softly when he approached, her voice carrying a warmth no blade could pierce. "Training until your body nearly breaks."
He smirked, sitting beside her. "I don't have the luxury of slowing down. Not anymore."
Her eyes lingered on him, and then, almost in a whisper: "I know. Because we're the same."
Kaito froze.
Aria's hand tightened around the railing. "I wasn't summoned as a hero. I was dragged here from the same world as you, but abandoned when they realized I hadn't awakened any gift. They discarded me like I was worthless."
His breath caught in his throat. Memories of betrayal, of being cast aside, struck him like fresh wounds. He looked at her, truly looked at her, and saw his reflection in her pain.
"You're… from my world."
She nodded, tears glimmering but refusing to fall. "We were both thrown away."
The silence that followed wasn't heavy—it was electric. Kaito felt a tether forming, something he hadn't allowed himself since his exile: connection. The thrill of combat, the dark power within him, none of it could compare to the raw honesty in her words.
For the first time in years, he smiled—not out of arrogance, not from victory, but from recognition.
Victor's voice echoed in his mind from earlier: Harmony.
Maybe, just maybe, Aria was the balance his heart needed, just as Victor was for his power.